Chemical Stability of (Ag,Cu)2Se: A historical overview

David R. Brown; Tristan Day; Thierry Caillat; G. Jeffrey Snyder

doi:10.1007/s11664-013-2506-2

Chemical Stability of (Ag,Cu)₂Se: A historical overview

David R. Brown, Tristan Day, Thierry Caillat, G. Jeffrey Snyder

Materials Science and Engineering

Research output: Contribution to journal › Article › peer-review

150 Scopus citations

Abstract

Recent work on Cu_2-x Se has caused strong interest in this material due to its high reported peak zT (1.5) and the reduction of thermal conductivity through the mechanism of liquid-like suppression of heat capacity. In the 1960s, 3M patented Cu_1.97Ag_0.03Se as "TPM-217." Over the following decade it was tested and developed by the 3M Corporation, at the National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA) Jet Propulsion Laboratory, Teledyne Energy Systems and the General Atomics Corporation for use as a next-generation thermoelectric material. During these tests, extreme problems with material loss through Se vaporization and chemical reactions between the material and the device contacts were found. These problems were especially severe while operating under conditions of high iL/A. As a result, the material system was abandoned. The results of these reports are discussed. A simple test of degradation of Cu₂Se under conditions of applied current and thermal gradient was performed and showed results compatible with the work done by General Atomics.

Original language	English (US)
Pages (from-to)	2014-2019
Number of pages	6
Journal	Journal of Electronic Materials
Volume	42
Issue number	7
DOIs	https://doi.org/10.1007/s11664-013-2506-2
State	Published - Jul 2013

Funding

D.R.B. would like to acknowledge the support of the Resnick Institute. T.D. and G.J.S. would like to acknowledge the support of the Air Force Office of Science Research. Part of this work was carried out at the Jet Propulsion Laboratory, California Institute of Technology, under a contract with the National Aeronautics and Space Administration.

ASJC Scopus subject areas

Electronic, Optical and Magnetic Materials
Condensed Matter Physics
Electrical and Electronic Engineering
Materials Chemistry

Access to Document

10.1007/s11664-013-2506-2

Cite this

@article{27ea78a2a99c4181a926e0811a7e667b,

title = "Chemical Stability of (Ag,Cu)2Se: A historical overview",

abstract = "Recent work on Cu2-x Se has caused strong interest in this material due to its high reported peak zT (1.5) and the reduction of thermal conductivity through the mechanism of liquid-like suppression of heat capacity. In the 1960s, 3M patented Cu1.97Ag0.03Se as {"}TPM-217.{"} Over the following decade it was tested and developed by the 3M Corporation, at the National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA) Jet Propulsion Laboratory, Teledyne Energy Systems and the General Atomics Corporation for use as a next-generation thermoelectric material. During these tests, extreme problems with material loss through Se vaporization and chemical reactions between the material and the device contacts were found. These problems were especially severe while operating under conditions of high iL/A. As a result, the material system was abandoned. The results of these reports are discussed. A simple test of degradation of Cu2Se under conditions of applied current and thermal gradient was performed and showed results compatible with the work done by General Atomics.",

author = "Brown, {David R.} and Tristan Day and Thierry Caillat and Snyder, {G. Jeffrey}",

note = "Funding Information: D.R.B. would like to acknowledge the support of the Resnick Institute. T.D. and G.J.S. would like to acknowledge the support of the Air Force Office of Science Research. Part of this work was carried out at the Jet Propulsion Laboratory, California Institute of Technology, under a contract with the National Aeronautics and Space Administration. Copyright: Copyright 2013 Elsevier B.V., All rights reserved.",

year = "2013",

month = jul,

doi = "10.1007/s11664-013-2506-2",

language = "English (US)",

volume = "42",

pages = "2014--2019",

journal = "Journal of Electronic Materials",

issn = "0361-5235",

publisher = "Springer New York",

number = "7",

}

TY - JOUR

T1 - Chemical Stability of (Ag,Cu)2Se

T2 - A historical overview

AU - Brown, David R.

AU - Day, Tristan

AU - Caillat, Thierry

AU - Snyder, G. Jeffrey

N1 - Funding Information: D.R.B. would like to acknowledge the support of the Resnick Institute. T.D. and G.J.S. would like to acknowledge the support of the Air Force Office of Science Research. Part of this work was carried out at the Jet Propulsion Laboratory, California Institute of Technology, under a contract with the National Aeronautics and Space Administration. Copyright: Copyright 2013 Elsevier B.V., All rights reserved.

PY - 2013/7

Y1 - 2013/7

N2 - Recent work on Cu2-x Se has caused strong interest in this material due to its high reported peak zT (1.5) and the reduction of thermal conductivity through the mechanism of liquid-like suppression of heat capacity. In the 1960s, 3M patented Cu1.97Ag0.03Se as "TPM-217." Over the following decade it was tested and developed by the 3M Corporation, at the National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA) Jet Propulsion Laboratory, Teledyne Energy Systems and the General Atomics Corporation for use as a next-generation thermoelectric material. During these tests, extreme problems with material loss through Se vaporization and chemical reactions between the material and the device contacts were found. These problems were especially severe while operating under conditions of high iL/A. As a result, the material system was abandoned. The results of these reports are discussed. A simple test of degradation of Cu2Se under conditions of applied current and thermal gradient was performed and showed results compatible with the work done by General Atomics.

AB - Recent work on Cu2-x Se has caused strong interest in this material due to its high reported peak zT (1.5) and the reduction of thermal conductivity through the mechanism of liquid-like suppression of heat capacity. In the 1960s, 3M patented Cu1.97Ag0.03Se as "TPM-217." Over the following decade it was tested and developed by the 3M Corporation, at the National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA) Jet Propulsion Laboratory, Teledyne Energy Systems and the General Atomics Corporation for use as a next-generation thermoelectric material. During these tests, extreme problems with material loss through Se vaporization and chemical reactions between the material and the device contacts were found. These problems were especially severe while operating under conditions of high iL/A. As a result, the material system was abandoned. The results of these reports are discussed. A simple test of degradation of Cu2Se under conditions of applied current and thermal gradient was performed and showed results compatible with the work done by General Atomics.

UR - http://www.scopus.com/inward/record.url?scp=84879794502&partnerID=8YFLogxK

UR - http://www.scopus.com/inward/citedby.url?scp=84879794502&partnerID=8YFLogxK

U2 - 10.1007/s11664-013-2506-2

DO - 10.1007/s11664-013-2506-2

M3 - Article

AN - SCOPUS:84879794502

SN - 0361-5235

VL - 42

SP - 2014

EP - 2019

JO - Journal of Electronic Materials

JF - Journal of Electronic Materials

IS - 7

ER -